The Soldiers’ Orphans’ Homes of Cedar Falls and Davenport, Iowa – Digital Archive – Dana Jamison

"The soldiers' orphans' home was organized in 1863, and opened for children in 1864, at Farmington; was removed to Davenport in 1865, and occupied the barracks in what had been a soldiers' camp during the war ... "

This 1899 book "The Iowa Soldiers’ Orphans’ Home, Davenport" has information about the life of the orphans, school, hospital, and more information about the orphanage.

1903/1904 report by the Iowa Board of Control of State Institutions. Page 194 talks about the Iowa Soldiers’ Orphans’ Home and some of the history behind it.

"Any mention of the Iowa Soldiers' Orphans' Home, brief or extended, must begin with reference to Mrs. Annie Wittenmeyer, the Keokuk woman whom Governor Kirkwood commissioned state sanitary agent and who during the long years of the Civil war was constantly engaged in works of mercy in the hospitals at the front. In a personal letter under date of 1888 she speaks of the movement for the care of soldiers' orphans: 'I matured the plan during the Mississippi river campaign which culminated in the surrender of Vicksburg in July, 1863. It was in the hospital where I was surrounded by men facing death, whose one anxiety was for their children, that the thought came to me, and many a dying soldier was comforted by the assurance that I would undertake the enterprise.' The actual founding of the homes for the care of the children of the brave men of Iowa who had laid down their lives for their country came about through the state sanitary organization which worked through local aid societies in collecting and distributing supplies for the soldiers, supplies which exceeded a half million dollars in value. ..."

"Photograph of three nurses and thirteen infants in cribs at the Iowa Soldiers' Orphans' Home (later known as the Annie Wittenmyer Home) in Davenport, Iowa. " - from the Upper Mississippi Valley Digital Image Archive

A 1933 statistical record - published in 1935 by the U.S. Department of Commerce (Bureau of the Census) - provides records of Iowa orphanages and how many children have been admitted and discharged that year. Includes Iowa Odd Fellows’ and Orphans’ Home in Mason City and Iowa Soldiers’ Orphans’ Home in Davenport on page 84.

A 1935-1937 study of environmental stimulation and its effects on preschool performance. They used kids from the Iowa Soldiers’ Orphans’ Home for the study, which lasted three years.

A 1948 article from the Annals of Iowa about Camp Roberts/ Camp Kinsmen, Annie Wittenmyer, and some of the early history of the orphans’ home.

A brief history of the work of Annie Wittenmyer and the founding of the Davenport Iowa Soldiers’ Orphans’ Home (later renamed the Iowa Annie Wittenmyer Home."

An extensive history of the Iowa Soldiers’ Orphans’ Home. One of the homes was in Cedar Falls. For 10 years starting in 1866 there was an average enrollment of 721 children. The Glenwood home was closed in 1875 and the 14 kids were transferred to the Davenport home. William A. Sunday was a famous baseball player who grew up in the Glenwood and Davenport Soldiers’ Orphans’ Home. The Cedar Falls Home closed in 1876 and the children and faculty were transferred to Davenport. The Davenport buildings were eventually in poor condition because they had been built to be used temporarily as a soldiers’ camp. In 1880 the dining room, kitchen, and bakery burned. Later this issue of the Palimpsest talks about the orphanage in 1916-1923, which is when the author lived there. He recounts what he remembers of everyday life there including chores like canning, stringing beans, and evening knitting for the Red Cross.

A 1982 booklet for a National Register of Historic Places. Pages describe the buildings in the Annie Wittenmyer complex and what years they were built and changed. Page 8 has a list of what looks like books and newspaper articles on the home. (Large file - loads slowly).

November 1990 Goldfinch article about Annie Wittenmyer and the Orphans’ Homes.